Dallas Cowboys Blog

Cowboys WR Dez Bryant dishes on performance, sideline antics, how he is perceived

IRVING — In his sophomore campaign in the NFL, Dez Bryant has experienced his share of setbacks and struggles. Not surprisingly, the Cowboys wide receiver has been reluctant to talk about them.

But on Friday, Bryant dished about his performance, his sideline antics, and how he is perceived.

By the end of the conversation, one thing was clear: Bryant isn’t about to change.

“I said if I go out and change myself, I wouldn’t be me,” Bryant said. “I feel like I’m just going to go out with the same mindset each and every day in practice and the game and go from there.”

Bryant has been roundly criticized for his emotional outburst near the Cowboys’ bench, when the receiver was spotted yelling and throwing his helmet during Dallas’ 34-7 loss at Philadelphia on Sunday.

Bryant said the perception of what transpired doesn’t dovetail with the reality of what actually occurred.

“The picture doesn’t show anything different,” Bryant said. “It’s just the way others look at it. They don’t know what I’m saying. You can ask Tony [Romo] and ask Miles [Austin] and ask anybody else on the team. It’s always positive.

“I just think it’s crazy. If I just go off on the sideline and just go yell at one of my teammate’s face and just act all crazy and berserk that’s out of line. What I do I feel like I try to do is motivate my teammates and I expect them to do me the same way and do the same thing. “That’s all I’m doing. It won’t change. That’s how I play the game. I’m just very passionate and emotional about the game. Nothing negative about it.”

Both Romo and Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett came to Bryant’s defense earlier this week.

“He’s just a kid who loves playing the game,” Romo said. “He’s passionate. But there is never any malice or anything negative involved. Cameras can catch whatever they want. He is never mean to another person or anything like that. He just wants to win and he’s excited about being out there playing.”

Yet this season Bryant hasn’t made much of an impact, which is why his behavior is drawing more scrutiny. He has made 22 catches for 367 yards and four touchdowns in six games.
At times, he has disappeared during long stretches. In the first half against Philadelphia, Romo didn’t even throw a pass towards him.

“I don’t look at it as a failure at all,” Bryant said. “We got a lot of people on this team and a lot of great talent on this team. Whenever our numbers are called on we just got to step up to the plate and make a play. I feel like we’ve done it. We just have to continue to keep doing it.

“To me it’s really not a personal thing. I just feel like whenever my number is called I’m going to step up to the plate and make a play. It’s not just me. It’s everybody — offense, defense, our linemen. It’s everybody.”

But the spotlight tends to follow Bryant and at this point he can’t escape it.

“I’m used to it,” Bryant said. “It’s crazy. It just comes with it. It’s OK. Hopefully one of these days it will fade away.”